Matanov remains behind bars

From the moment of his indictment on May 30, there was never really a doubt that Khairullozhon Matanov would remain behind bars. After all, getting charged with impeding an investigation into the Boston Marathon bombings is pretty much a guarantee the court is going to keep you in custody.

The government had the burden of persuasion at the detention hearing and called FBI agent Tim McElroy to carry the day.

The only surprising aspect of the proceeding was defense attorney Edward Hayden’s announcement at the conclusion of McElroy’s testimony that he was not contesting the prosecution’s detention request. Until today, it appeared that Hayden intended to ask the judge to release his client. That’s what he told me he planned to during this podcast recorded on May 30. But at the conclusion of the hearing, Hayden informed Bowler that Matanov currently has nowhere to live and he was not challenging the prosecution’s request.

The attorney said he would make arrangements in the coming weeks to find a suitable housing situation for his client and then come back before the judge to readdress his custody status. In other similar cases, a defendant will often agree to a temporary detention and hold off on having a hearing until he has a proposed living/work situation for the court to consider. Detention proceedings do provide the defense with some early discovery and it’s possible Hayden asked for the hearing to get a better sense as to what kind of case the prosecution has against Matanov.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Garland argued that detention was necessary under several Bail Reform Act factors. He noted that Matanov was a flight risk, who had used aliases in the past, and had “serious incentives” to leave the country.

He also argued that Matanov is young and has no substantive ties to the U.S. That, coupled with the government’s view of the strength of the case, served as grounds for detention, the prosecutor said in court.

If Hayden makes another bail attempt, look for him to argue (as he did today) that Matanov has no criminal record, voluntarily came forward to Braintree Police, and later the FBI, and provided significant information about Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and his older brother Tamerlan.

I’d also expect him to claim that Matanov remained in Massachusetts for over a year even though he was well aware the FBI was monitoring him the whole time.

The fact that he didn’t flee during that period, hired a lawyer and cooperated with the government are additional facts Hayden would raise to try to refute the government’s flight risk claim.

Regardless, the odds are stacked heavily against Matanov being released pending the outcome of the case. If the matter goes to trial, the prosecution expects it to last two weeks with 20 to 30 witnesses called.